United Press International UPI
March 5 2010

Turkey pulls envoy after ‘genocide’ vote
Published: March. 5, 2010 at 9:41 AM

ANKARA, Turkey, March 5 (UPI) — Turkey recalled its U.S. ambassador
after a House committee approved a resolution that uses "genocide" to
describe the mass deaths of Armenians in World War I.

The House Committee on Foreign Affairs narrowly approved a non-binding
resolution 23-22 Thursday, formally calling on President Barack Obama
to characterize the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Armenians
during World War I as genocide, the online Christian Science Monitor
reported Friday.

The vote proceeded despite pleas against it from the White House and
State Department, and sparked a withering response from Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"We condemn this resolution accusing Turkey of a crime that it had not
committed," Erdogan’s office said in a statement. "Our ambassador to
Washington, Namik Tan, was recalled tonight (Thursday) to Ankara for
consultations after the development."

Ankara said the resolution’s passage could fracture relations with
Washington and jeopardize the delicate reconciliation process between
Turkey and Armenia.

"Turkish-U.S. relations are experiencing their most successful period
in history," Erdogan said Tuesday. "I hope that they will not be
damaged by such initiatives."

Since the resolution passed, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi must decide
whether to bring it to the floor, the online publication said.

Armenians said Ottoman Turks systematically killed up to 1.5 million
Armenians during the war. Turkey has denied the genocide claim, saying
the number of Armenians killed was much lower and resulted from
violence that affected a number of groups at the time.